If Uttar Pradesh were a country then it would be world’s fifth most populated nation and it’s land area would be roughly around that of the United Kingdom. So, even if less people per unit area and population commit crimes still, the total number of crimes committed will outnumber other states with smaller population and area.
Moreover, UP and Delhi get more national news coverage than other states so, whenever any criminal incident takes place, the whole nation knows it by the next day and reverse isn’t true. It could be validated by the fact that most people know the name of Chief Minister of UP, while even many political enthusiasts don’t know the name of the CMs of Kerala, Mizoram or even Gujarat.
On 6 July 2020, the UP state government released crime data of 2018. NCRB data of 2018 showed that UP despite having 17% population of the country and 13.5% total area of the nation registered only 10% of the crime rate of the total crime rate of nation.
However, the total murder cases in UP in 2018 (4018) surpasses every other state and Union Territories (UT). But it is just because of the massive population of the state as rate of murder in per one lakh people is just 1.8 which is one of the lowest in India with national average of 2.2. Jharkhan tops the list of murder rates with 4.6. Uttar Pradesh fares better than Haryana (3.9), Madhya Pradesh (2.3), Odisha (3.2) and Punjab (2.3).
Similarly, Uttar Pradesh registered 59,445 cases in crime against women which is more than any other state or UT. But, UP’s rate of total crime is 55.7 per one lakh of population which is less than the national average of 58.8. It is way less than that Delhi (149.6), Assam (166), Odisha (91.3) and Telangana (87.1).
In crime against children, UP again tops the list with highest number of cases as of 19,936 in 2018 out of national total of 1,41,764. But again, when we consider the rate of total crimes against children then that is 22.5 for one lakh of population against the national average of 31.8. It is way better than states like Sikkim (108.9),Delhi (147.2), Madhya Pradesh (63.1) and Harayana 52.5.
In 2018, India registered total 33,356 rape cases throughout the year. Uttar Pradesh contributed 3,946 cases that is lower than Rajasthan (4,335) and Madhya Pradesh (5,433). India’s rape rate is 5.2 per one lakh of population. UP’s rape rate is 3.7 which is better than states like Assam (9.9), Haryana (9.7) and Kerala (10.7).
These all cases combined proves my point that Uttar Pradesh is not as bad as people believe. UP registers a large number of cases because of its humongous population and not because of its broken system.
Views expressed are personal
